More Tomato Tips and Tricks

So you've got your tomatoes planted, and you're waiting for your harvest to come! Did you know, that you can pick your tomatoes at the end of the year, and save them? Pick any of the tomatoes that aren't ripe at the end of fall before frost and rain. Store them in a dry place, and they will ripen! Be sure to leave their tops on, and a stem too, if you can. Tomatoes don't need sun to ripen. They need warmth. Which means you can get them just the way you'd like them, with just a warm, dry place.

In the peak of the season, you might find you have more tomatoes than you can eat fresh! What are some of your favorite ways to eat your extras?
One of our favorite ways is DRIED! This is especially good with cherry tomatoes, but any kind will work. Cut cherry tomatoes in half, and sprinkle them with garlic, salt and basil. Put a little Slap Ya Mama salt on them to spice them up. There are also the traditional ways of preserving, like canning, and making tomato sauces. Another is to PICKLE them!

Hidden Treasure Tuesday

Our Hidden Treasure is blooming all around the Shoppe!We have Geraniums of all sorts! Come in and create a beautiful flowering pot for your porch or eve. They are flowering now, and will continue to do so as long as old blooms are cut!

Remember to mention Facebook or the blog when you come in to purchase, and we'll give you 20% off of the purchase on the treasure item of this week!

Hidden Treasure Tuesday

Did you know that there are evergreen and deciduous Clematis? Granny Organic suggests planting them together, so that the early blooming evergreen Clematis puts on a show while the later and larger blooms from the deciduous Clematis are growing. Enjoy blooms from early Spring into late Fall with this combination!

Evergreen Clematis

Remember to mention Facebook or the blog when you come in to purchase, and we'll give you 20% off of the purchase on the treasure item of this week!

Hidden Treasure Tuesday

It's time for a Hidden Treasure Tuesday find!! Perennials! Do you know the difference between Annuals and Perennials? Here's how I remember. Annuals need to be planted ANNUALLY. They do not come back on their own, unless you get an annual that will re seed itself. (like poppies)
Perennials you plant PERMANENTLY. Plant one and done, so to speak! Perennials come back every year, and some of them are evergreen, meaning they don't loose their foliage in Winter. One of our favorite perks to perennials is that they are BLOOMING!! Perennials are some of the first flowers of every Spring. Here are a few examples!

Bleeding Hearts enjoy shade and moist areas.

Rock Foil or Saxifraga

 The name Saxifrage means "rock breaker." Imagine these beauties breaking through the crevices of your rocky area...

Brunnera is another shade loving early Spring bloomer

 Want to add something unique and interesting? Try one of our ornamental grasses!! This one is a black Mondo grass. No need to adjust your screen!! It really is BLACK!!

Remember to mention Facebook or the blog when you come in to purchase, and we'll give you 20% off of the purchase on the treasure item of this week!

Tomato Variety at Commonwealth!

TOMATOES 2013 

COMMONWEALTH GARDEN SHOPPE 

452 N. Main St., Canyonville, OR 97417 

 ph. 541-839-6067 

Check out the choices you have when you buy Tomatoes at Commonwealth!

EARLY
EARLY GIRL - 5 oz. fruit – Indeterminate
 **STUPICE - 3" fruit, cold tolerant, great taste. Bred in Czechoslovakia. Indeterminate.
MID SEASON
BETTER BOY - One pound, extremely flavorful,. Indeterminate.
GOLIATH - 10 - 15 oz. picture-perfect fruit. Indeterminate.
BIG BEEF - 4" to 6" crack resistant, sweet, slightly acid flavor. Disease resistant. Indeterminate
**ACE - 10-12 oz. large, red, smooth skinned fruit. Low acid. Determinate.
FANTASTIC - 3"-5" solid fruit, low acid, crack resistant, vigorous. Determinate.
"OUR FAVORITE” 
INDIGO ROSE 2” fruit, high in anthocyanin, vigorous producer indeterminate

HEIRLOOM 
**MORTGAGE LIFTER - great taste, good yield slicer. Indeterminate
**BRANDYWINE -Up to 7". Indeterminate.
 ** STRIPED GERMAN - fruity flavor, med. to large, marbled fruit on medium tall plants.
**BLACK-,Russian heirloom, 3-4” fruit, , sweet taste, indeterminate
** GREEN ZEBRA- 11/2 to 2 ½ fruit, sweet and zesty fruit, Indeterminate
**CHEROKEE PURPLE - Med. Size pinkish, purple fruit, 8-12 oz., indeterminate
** PINEAPPLE- 1lb fruit, meaty, tasty, red and yellow streaked, Indeterminate

ITALIAN SAUCE 
**ROMA - Dozens of 2 to 3 oz., meaty w/ few seeds. Determinate.
SUPER MARZANO - High in pectin, good for sauces, 4 oz.,5" fruit, Indeterminate

YELLOW
 **YELLOW PEAR - 3/4 to 1 oz. lemon yellow pear-shaped, Indeterminate.
SUNNY BOY- Lemon colored, half pound fruit, sweet and juicy, indeterminate

CHERRY 
SWEET MILLION - disease and crack resistant 1 1/4" fruits. Indeterminate.
SWEET 100’s- 1oz fruit, very sweet flavor, yields over extended season, indeterminate SUNGOLD - Sweetest. Winner of all taste tests. Hold well on vine. Indeterminate BLACK CHERRY- almost black in color, sweet and robust, large cherry size, Indeterminate

GRAPE 
5 STAR GRAPE-excellent sweet flavor, firm meaty texture, crack resistant, indeterminate
PATIO TUMBLER- 1 oz. fruit, early to ripen, great taste, used in hanging baskets, Determinate
SUPER BUSH - 2"fruits on 2 1/2' to 3' plants, deep tomato flavor. Determinate.
WINDOW BOX ROMA- 3 oz. fruit, dwarf plants, red elongated, use in fruit, container gardens

TOMATILLOS
MEXICAN STRAIN 2” fruit, more savory flavor, preferred variety for Mexican dishes,

**Indicates open pollinated seed.
So what's exactly does 'determinate' and 'indeterminate' mean? Granny organic says, "Indeterminate means the plants keep growing and flowering throughout the season. Determinate plants grow to a point and flower and don’t get as tall. Either type in our climate will produce plenty of tomatoes." 

Tomato Tips and Tricks!

It's just about time to plant TOMATOES, and we'll have them this coming week!!

Even though our Spring appears to have come early, there is still a chance here in Oregon for frost. There is also a pretty high probability that we'll have some more rain before the weather dries up. Both of these things can be dangerous to new tomato plants, but we have a solution!

 Save up those plastic milk jugs, vinegar bottles and 2 liters! Cut the bottom of the jugs and bottles off, and place them over the tops of your young tomato plants! Leave the lids off. By recycling bottles as plant protectors LIKE THIS, you create protection from excess water, and provide shelter from frost! Get a head start on your tomato season with this simple trick.

A question that comes up often with our customers, is "What is the difference between Heirloom, Hybrid and GMO plants?" CLICK HERE for an excellent break down of what the differences are. In a very VERY simple nutshell, Heirloom and Hybrid plants can happen without human help. GMO cannot. What do we at Commonwealth recommend? Perhaps the better question would be which would we AVOID. That answer is GMO. If you are interested in avoiding GMO, we have the plants for you! If you would like to take that a step further, you can read THIS ARTICLE about seed names that have been sold to Monsanto and other biotech companies that invest in GMO science in our food and plants.

So what tomato varieties do you plant? One of our favorites is the ACE. It's a prolific, flavorful tomato that consistently out does it's competition in flavor AND production. It's a great all around tomato for fresh eating, canning and sauces. We've also found that for people with less sunny area for tomatoes, or those getting a late start on planting, planting smaller tomato varieties like cherries or Romas can make the difference in whether or not they get ripe tomatoes. Sun Gold tomatoes make a GREAT cherry addition to any garden. Come on in! Talk to Granny Organic and her helpers about what tomatoes will be the best fit for YOU!